Vegan bakewell tart with blackberries

Step 1

If using hazelnuts, go to STEP 1 of the frangipane filling first to minimise washing up.

Step 2

Place flour, sugar (if using maple syrup, add it in step 2), salt, xantham gum (only if you are making a GF pastry) and cubed vegan butter in a food processor. Pulse a few times to combine. If you don't have a food processor, use a bowl and two knives to cut the fat into the flour (see process photos here).

Step 3

Slowly feed cold water (if using maple syrup use only about 2 tbsp of water mixed in with maple syrup) through the chute while pulsing the mixture. Once the water has been added the pastry should resemble breadcrumbs (see photos in the post).

Step 4

Transfer the mixture onto a work surface. Using your hands, bring it together and form into a disc - it should nicely stick together, if it's still too dry and crumbly trickle in 1 tsp of cold water at a time. Handle as little as possible and do not knead.

Step 5

Wrap the pastry disc up in cling film and chill in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.

Step 6

Remove the pastry from the fridge and roll it out on a lightly floured surface until you get a circle large enough to cover your entire tart case, about 2-3 mm in thickness.

Step 7

Place the rolled-out dough over a tart case and gently line the inside of it with the pastry. Tuck the pastry in well, ensuring that it fits snugly into all the nooks and crannies. Trim the excess pastry with a sharp knife and patch any holes/or thinner bits with the cut-off excess. If making gluten-free pastry (which tends to be more crumbly), you may be better off placing the crumbled pastry in the tart case and simply moulding the pastry with your hands to the shape of the tart tin.

Step 8

Pierce the bottom of the pastry with a fork in a few places and chill the pastry-lined tart case in the fridge for another 30 minutes. You can also just leave it in the fridge overnight if making ahead

Step 9

Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 175° C / 350° F (regular, no fan setting). Line the pastry case with a large piece of crumpled baking paper and fill with baking beads (or dry beans) for a blind bake.

Step 10

Blind bake the pastry for 15 minutes. Remove the paper and beads and bake for another 5 minutes - until cooked and egdes are only pale golden, not browned. Keep the oven on.

Step 11

Put blackberries into a small pot and set it on low heat stirring until they release juices. If your blackberries are sweet, I recommend adding a bit of lemon juice - to taste.

Step 12

Place cornflour in a tiny bowl and some of the blackberry juice from the pot. Stir until well combined.

Step 13

Once blackberries in the pot have almonst completely fallen apart, trickle in cornflour mixture whilst stirring.

Step 14

Simmer for a minute or so - just until the jam thickens - then switch off the heat and allow the mixture to cool down completely.

Step 15

Grind hazelnuts in a food processor until finely ground, transfer to a bowl, dust the food processor off and go back to the pastry STEP 1.

Step 16

To prepare the filling, cream vegan butter (or oil) and sugar (or maple syrup) with an electric whisk. Next, whisk in the flour. Add aquafaba, a small amount at a time. Whisk well after each portion of aquafaba.

Step 17

Finally, gently fold in the ground hazelnuts, baking powder, salt and vanilla extract. I also like to add about ¾ tsp of ground cardamom sometimes.

Step 18

Fill the pre-baked (and cooled off) pastry case with blackberry filling.

Step 19

Next, gently spread frangipane filling over the blackberries making sure it reaches all the way to the edges.

Step 20

Decorate the top with blackberries, placing them on top of the filling and pushing them only a tiny bit as the filling will rise during baking.

Step 21

Bake the tart for about 40-45 minutes, until the filling is nicely browned. I found that the maple syrup filling tends to take a little longer in the oven (by 10 minutes or so). Remove from the oven and allow the tart to cool down before removing it from the tin and cutting it into slices. The top will crisp up nicely as the tart cools down.